1940: Socialism

Norway, Belgium, Denmark.

The Socialist movement suffered considerably during 1940, because some of its strongholds in Europe were destroyed by the successful invasion of their countries by National Socialist Germany. The Socialist movement and the trade unions organizations have been especially strong in Norway, Belgium and The Netherlands. In Norway and in Belgium the Socialists participated in the government, and in Norway the Norwegian Labor party had formed the Cabinet since March 1935. With the occupation of their countries by the National Socialists, the Socialist parties in these countries were dissolved, the trade unions put under National Socialist control, and many of the Socialist leaders were imprisoned or forced to flee. The German occupation of Denmark put Socialism there under a very heavy strain, and although the Socialists in the Danish Cabinet continued and the trade union movement remained outwardly intact, its manifestations were severely curtailed and it was obliged to adapt itself to the new dominating spirit of Fascism. The defeat of France and the ensuing coming into power of a pro-Fascist government put an end to the existence and activity of Socialist parties and brought about the dissolution of the once powerful French trade union movement, the Confédération Générale de Travail. In the Fascist countries, Germany, Italy, Spain, all Socialist activities and organizations were strictly forbidden.

The executive committee of the Socialist International, the so-called Second International, met in Brussels at the end of February. Camille Huymans, the mayor of Antwerp, was elected president in place of the Dutchman J. W. Alberda, who had entered the Dutch Cabinet as Minister for Communications and Public Works.

Sweden.

In the countries which remained free of Fascist domination, the Socialist parties did not lose, but rather gained in influence. Thus in the elections which were held in September 1940, in Sweden, the Swedish Labor party and the Socialist Premier, Per Albin Hansson, received an overwhelming vote of confidence. While all other parties in the elections for a new Swedish House of Representatives lost seats, the Social Democrats gained nineteen new ones. The Communists lost two of their seats, and the extreme Socialists, a very minor faction, were unable to gain even one. In the new House of Representatives the Social Democrats will enjoy an absolute majority. In spite of the fact that after the occupation of Norway and Denmark by Fascist Germany Sweden found herself entirely isolated, the Social Democrats, the party most hated by the Fascists, were able to increase their vote and to gain a clear majority, while the National Socialists were unable to gain a single seat.

British Empire.

In the same way, the influence of the Socialists increased in Great Britain with the process of democratization which the war brought with it. The conservative government of Neville Chamberlain was forced to resign in May 1940, and was followed by a coalition under Winston Churchill in which the British Labor party under Ernest Bevin, Major Clement Attlee, and Herbert Morrison played an important role. During the war the Labor party also maintained its strength and influence in Australia and New Zealand.

United States.

In the United States the different Socialist groups were strictly divided in their attitude towards the European war. The official Socialist Party under the leadership of Norman Thomas was out-and-out isolationist. As a result, it suffered in the presidential election of 1940, and the number of votes which Mr. Thomas received showed very clearly the heavy decline of the influence of that trend of Socialist opinion on the American electorate. Mr. Thomas received only 116,796 votes, as against 187,720 in 1936 and 884,781 in 1932. The wing of the Socialist party in America which takes an anti-isolationist point of view and emphasizes its sympathy with the European Socialist parties in their fight against Fascism, and its representative organ, the New York weekly New Leader, cast their votes for Mr. Roosevelt. This wing of the Socialist party in America was organized in New York State as the American Labor party, which received 417,418 votes as against 274,924 in 1936.

International Federation of Trade Unions.

The International Federation of Trade Unions, whose chairman is Sir Walter Citrine, held its last executive meeting in Paris on May 7. Although the occupation of the continental democracies in Europe by Germany destroyed the trade union movements in these countries, the International Federation still counts powerful and numerous affiliates in Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States of America, Mexico, Canada, Argentine and South Africa. The Trade Unions International upholds the rights of the workers to choose their own organization and their own leaders as against the Fascist way in which organizations are forced and leaders imposed upon the workers from above.